A group was told to stop using the FGCU logo and other branding in promoting a political event that occurred on Saturday, Nov. 2.
The Anonymous Movement of Southwest Florida received a cease and desist letter from the university. Pam McCabe, director of media relations at FGCU, said the letter asked the group to remove the FGCU branding from any materials promoting the get-together on Nov. 2.
The FGCU logo did appear at the top of one promotional flyer that bore the headline March to Save America. The flyer also shows a now famous photo of Donald Trump with a fist in the air, after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer. Trump's right ear was struck by a bullet, and some rally-goers were killed or wounded in that attack on Trump.
Some leaders of the Lee County Republican Party joined the gathering at the south entrance to the FGCU campus Saturday afternoon. The Anonymous Movement Facebook page shows people waving Trump flags along Ben Hill Griffin Parkway.
However some people may have set foot on the private property of University Village at times during the gathering, or somehow disturbed customers at the village restaurants and businesses. Michael Leiva, president of the America First Club, was there and spoke on a recording with Julie Perez. She's an FGCU student and Eagle News TV News Director. Eagle News is the independent, student-run media outlet on campus.
"We had a couple of gentlemen here with their pick-up trucks, and they had their flags flying, as is as our First Amendment right to do so," Leiva explained. "But someone here, I don't know if it was management with the plaza or the restaurant, took umbrage against that, and they called the police. And they (the flag-flyers) were asked to leave the premises."
Perez and another FGCU student who was there said deputies from the Lee County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene. The students told WGCU News that deputies spoke with the people, and that the group then moved to a nearby vacant lot to continue their rally. The students said there were no incidents or arrests.
A.J. Amedure, founder of the Anonymous Movement, spoke with FGCU student Julie Perez at the event Saturday.
He said he used to be a Democrat, but became disenchanted with that party. "Of course I'm supporting the Republican Party now, and Donald Trump, who I might add, I'm not the biggest fan of his character," Amedure said.
"But to me it's a clear choice: freedom or slavery. I'm going to vote for freedom."
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News, and also teaches journalism at FGCU. He can be reached at mwalcher@wgcu.org